Bush Middle East trip highlights crisis of US policy

Bush arrived in Tel Aviv amid the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, a date that is known among Palestinians as the catastrophe. For the two days of Israeli festivities, the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sealed the borders between Israel and the Palestinian territories, and Israeli forces on Wednesday attacked Palestinian protesters at several border checkpoints with tear gas.

After reiterating US support for Israel, Bush praised 60 years of democracy in Israel and concluded, What happened here is possible everywhere. To millions of people around the world, watching the ongoing repression of the Palestinians and the bloody US-led occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bushs comment doubtless sounded more like a threat than a promise.

At an evening gala with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Olmert, Bush delivered a longer speech. After predictable invocations of faith and allusions to the war against terrorism, he singled out for praise the crucial role of US President Harry Truman in recognizing and backing Israel in 1948.

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